1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to electrical connectors, and more particularly to electrical connectors with improved engaging arms for abutting against plugs inserted therein.
2. Description of Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 6,053,773 discloses a conventional electrical connector comprising an insulative housing with a plurality of contacts retained therein and a pair of front and rear metal shield enclosing the insulative housing. The insulative housing comprises a base portion and a horizontal tongue plate portion extending forwardly from a front face of the base portion. The front metal shield encloses the tongue plate portion to define a receiving cavity for accommodating a plug therein. The front metal shield is stamped from a unitary one-piece metal sheet to have a generally rectangular configuration with four peripheral walls including an upper wall, a bottom wall and a pair of side walls. Each of the upper and the lower walls has a pair of engaging arms stamped therefrom and extending into the receiving cavity for abutting against the inserted plug to provide a stable mating status. Nowadays, in order to provide longtime mating cycles with the plug inserted/removable into/from the receiving cavity, the engaging arms are need to be made of material with excellent mechanical property, such as stainless steel. However, under this circumstance, if the engaging arms are integrally stamped from the front metal shield as disclosed in the prior art, the four peripheral walls might use the same material as that of the engaging arms because the front metal shield are formed of a one-piece metal sheet. In fact, the four peripheral walls needn't to be made of such excellent, but expensive, material, thereby increasing the cost of the electrical connector.
Hence, an electrical connector with improved engaging arms is needed to solve the problem above.